Essay: Is Israel Below Criticism?

One of the few salutary side effects of the killings and beatings in Gaza and the West Bank has been the emerging willingness of thoughtful American Jews and non-Jews to criticize Israeli policies. Maybe it had to take events of such high repugnance to get the words in the air. Always a tricky business. How to criticize Israel? Meaning: How to cast a cool eye on America's one kindred ally in the Middle East without seeming to turn one's back on that ally, or to jeopardize its survival, or to arouse or pander to the anti- Semitic impulses of those who...